Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in southwestern Brooklyn, bordering Sunset Park to the north and Dyker Heights to the east. Bay Ridge is located across the Narrows from Staten Island, and it is connected to Staten Island with the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. 800 buildings were destroyed and 7,000 people displaced so that the bridge could be built, and the area evolved into a largely middle-class neighborhood. Until the 1990s, the area was predominantly Irish, Italian, Greek, Lebanese, and Norwegian. In 2010, Bay Ridge had a population of 79,371 people, with 66.4% being white, 13.3% Asian, 1.8% African-American, 2.1% multiracial, .3% other races, .1% Native American, and 0% (19 people) Pacific islanders; Hispanics made up 15.9% of the population. Today, Bay Ridge is considered to be the heart of Brooklyn's Arab community.